Lily Kong

{{Infobox academic

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| name = Lily Kong

| honorific_suffix = BBM PPA(P)

| image = Professor Lily Kong.jpg

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| native_name = {{nobold|江莉莉}}

| native_name_lang = Chinese

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| birth_date = 1965

| birth_place = Singapore

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| occupation = Geographer

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| awards = Public Administration Medal (Silver)

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| alma_mater = University College London
National University of Singapore

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| discipline = Geography

| sub_discipline = Cultural geography

| workplaces = Singapore Management University
National University of Singapore

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| main_interests = {{bulletedlist|religion|cultural policy and creative economy|national identity|globalisation and migration|social construction of nature and the environment}}

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Lily L.L. Kong {{post-nominals|list=BBM PPA(P)}} is a Singaporean geographer currently serving as president of the Singapore Management University (SMU). She is the first female and Singaporean academic to helm a Singapore university. Prior joining SMU, she was a faculty member at the Department of Geography of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and had held various senior managerial positions at NUS.{{Cite web|url=https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190702092054536|title=Universities overhaul sexual harassment rules after outcry|last=Sharma|first=Yojana|date=|website=University World News|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=15 July 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/social-scientist-lily-kong-to-become-first-singaporean-academic-to-helm-smu|title=Social scientist Lily Kong to become first Singaporean academic to helm SMU|last=Davie|first=Sandra|date=3 April 2018|website=The Straits Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=15 July 2019}}{{cite web |title=Professor Lily Kong |url=https://www.psc.gov.sg/about/psc-members/professor-lily-kong |website=Public Service Commission, Singapore |access-date=16 July 2019}}{{cite web |title=Lily Kong |url=http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/doc/Prize/LILY%20KONG.pdf |website=Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore |access-date=16 July 2019}}

Career

Kong graduated in 1986 from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a bachelor's degree (honours) and obtained a M.A. from NUS in 1988. She then went on to complete a Ph.D. in Geography at University College London in 1991.{{Cite web |last=Auto |first=Hermes |date=2022-01-24 |title=The university and the city {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/the-university-and-the-city-0 |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}} A cultural geographer by training,{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-landrights-cemetery-idUSKCN1OX0MM|title=No rest for the dead: Singapore digs up graves for highways|last=Chandran|first=Rina|date=3 January 2019|work=Reuters|access-date=15 July 2019|language=en}} she became a faculty member in the NUS Department of Geography in 1991 and served as the Dean of NUS's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 2000 to 2003. She also held other senior managerial positions in NUS, including Dean of the University Scholars Programme, Vice Provost (Education), Vice Provost (Academic Personnel) Acting Executive Vice President (Academic Affairs) of the Yale-NUS College, Director of the Asia Research Institute, and Vice-President (University and Global Relations).

In September 2015, Kong joined Singapore Management University (SMU) as Provost and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences.{{cite web |title=Prof Lily Kong |url=https://www.a-star.edu.sg/About-A-STAR/Corporate-Profile/A-STAR-Board/Prof-Lily-Kong |website=Agency for Science, Technology and Research |access-date=16 July 2019}} At the start of 2019, she succeeded Belgian academic Arnoud De Meyer as President of SMU, becoming the first woman and also the first Singaporean academic to helm SMU.

As President of SMU, Kong has focused on enhancing the quality of the university's students and faculty, developing educational programmes, growing the impact of the university's research, and reforming the university's sexual harassment policy.{{Cite web|url=http://theindependent.sg/sexual-misconduct-policies-local-vs-overseas-universities/|title=Sexual misconduct policies: local vs overseas universities – The Independent News|last=Otsuka|first=Hana|date=26 April 2019|website=|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=15 July 2019}}

Kong has also been a member of Singapore's Public Service Commission since January 2009.

In September 2020, Kong was announced as one of the 25 outstanding female leaders in the Asia-Pacific region according to Forbes' list of 2020 Asia’s Power Businesswomen.{{cite web |last1=Forbes Press Releases |title=Forbes Asia's Power Businesswomen List Spotlights 25 Outstanding Female Leaders |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2020/09/14/forbes-asias-power-businesswomen-list-spotlights-25-outstanding-female-leaders/#1e2d775e1e62 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

Research

Kong has served as an editor or member of international editorial advisory boards for over 15 journals, including Social and Cultural Geography and Dialogues in Human Geography. She is also a series editor of Pacific Rim Geographies: Studies on Contemporary Culture, Environment, Cities and Development (Routledge), Co-Chief Editor of the ARI-Springer Asia Series, and Book Series Advisor for The Politics of Popular Culture in Asia Pacific (University of Illinois Press and Hong Kong University Press). She also has 19 books and monographs to her name, as well as over 150 papers in international refereed journals and chapters in books. Her research interests include religion, cultural policy and creative economy, national identity, globalisation and migration, and the social construction of nature and the environment.{{cite web |title=SMU Appoints Professor Lily Kong as Fifth President |url=https://www.smu.edu.sg/news/2018/04/03/smu-appoints-professor-lily-kong-fifth-president |website=Singapore Management University |access-date=16 July 2019 |date=3 April 2018}}

Awards

Kong is a recipient of the following awards:

;Singaporean awards

NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award
NUS Outstanding University Researcher Award
National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award
Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Public Administration Medal(Silver)), 2006
Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star), 2020{{Cite web|title=President's Profile|url=https://www.smu.edu.sg/about/leadership/president-profile|access-date=10 May 2021|website=www.smu.edu.sg}}

;International awards

Honorary Doctor of Science, Loughborough University
Commonwealth Fellowship Award
Fulbright Fellowship Award
Association of American Geographers Robert Stoddard Award for Distinguished Service (Geography of Religion and Belief Systems)